About Featured Expert: Beckhoff Automation
Beckhoff Automation are global industry experts in PC-based control, industrial networking, motion control, machine vision, robotics and integrated automation systems. The company’s control architecture combines industrial PC hardware with TwinCAT automation software, allowing PLC, motion, CNC, robotics, safety, measurement and visualization functions to be handled within a common engineering and control environment. This gives machine builders and manufacturers a scalable foundation for applications ranging from individual machines and production cells to highly synchronized, multi-axis systems.
Beckhoff is also known for its development of EtherCAT, the real-time Industrial Ethernet technology used for deterministic communication between controllers, drives, I/O and field devices. EtherCAT distributed clocks provide the precise device synchronization required for coordinated motion, time-deterministic measurement and data acquisition, and other time-critical automation tasks.
The wider Beckhoff portfolio includes industrial PCs, control panels, distributed I/O, servo drives and motors, machine vision, control cabinet-free automation, modular robotics and intelligent transport systems. Its XTS technology supports flexible linear product transport using independently controlled movers, while XPlanar enables contactless planar movement with individually controlled movers and up to six degrees of freedom. The ATRO modular industrial robot system allows machine builders to configure application-specific robot structures using standardized motor and link modules.
By bringing control, motion, safety, measurement, visualization and communication functions into a common PC-based architecture, Beckhoff enables engineers to coordinate multiple automation disciplines within the same software and control environment. TwinCAT can also be extended with additional software functions and interfaces to third-party engineering and automation technologies. These capabilities are used across machine building, discrete and process manufacturing, packaging, intralogistics, semiconductor production, energy and building automation. Applications range from high-speed assembly and material handling to precision measurement, coordinated product transport and production systems requiring extensive data acquisition at the control level.
Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Verl, Germany, the company supports the U.S. market from its headquarters in Savage, Minnesota, which includes a central warehouse, training center and service facilities. Beckhoff USA also maintains regional offices and technical centers across the country. For more information, please click here.
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Molly Bakewell Chamberlin is the Founder, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Components Source Network, a 100% woman- and disability-owned B2B publishing and expert marketplace platform serving the global high-tech manufacturing and engineering community. She is the architect, author and developer of the Network’s 11 specialized e-news sites and 11 peer-vetted expert e-marketplaces, including Industrial Automation Monthly. With more than 25 years of experience in strategic technical marketing, public relations and business development, she is also the Founder and President of Embassy Global, LLC, which has supported more than 200 high-tech industry brands worldwide since 2008. Molly also serves pro bono as Second Vice Chair of the Government Team for the WBENC Forum and is a long-standing advocate for small business, supplier diversity, sustainability and women in STEM. Connect with Molly on LinkedIn.
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